Friends
Buoyed by another better-than-expected inflation number, stocks moved smartly higher at the open today and were firmly in positive territory until word that an errant missile or two appear to have struck Poland in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. As of this writing details are still sketchy, but after an initial drop in share prices, the market averages did move back into positive territory by the close. Today it was the Producer Price Index (prices at the wholesale level) which came in lighter than expected. For the bulls, that was a nice follow up to the CPI number released last week.
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 56 points to finish the day at 33,592. The S&P 500 was up 34 points to close at 3,991. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 162 points to close at 11,358. Gold was up $6 to trade at $1,783 per ounce, while oil was up $.89 to trade at $86.76 per barrel WTI.
So, we seem to have the beginning of good news on inflation, but today’s news out of Poland reminds us that with a global military conflict going on, at any moment we could have disturbing news that moves markets, not to mention that wears on nerves. Without outside disturbance, stocks appear to want to move higher. But of course, securities trading doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We’ll keep you informed as the week unfolds.
Have a nice evening everyone.
